Will Taylor Swift still be popular in 30 years?

[tbolt909]

Why didn't some Hollywood studio release a film of a Super Bowl game the same weekend as "Taylor Swift -- The Eras Tour" and see which one filled more theater seats?

Maybe a showing of Beatles HARD DAYS NIGHT or HELP is a more fair comparison. I admit these examples are getting ridiculous. The Beatles zeitgeist was 55 years ago.
There's no way to judge "Who is more popular". The Beatles and Shakespeare have stood the test of time. Swift will get her chance. Milli Vanilli were popular once and even won a Grammy for whatever that was worth...😑

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Who knows where Taylor Swift is going in 30 years. However some of us wished some of the stars we liked 20 years ago would have the same popularity as Taylor Swift. For example I was a fan of Smashmouth 20 years ago and their former lead singer Steve Harwell has died. Yes I wished the band would go on for three decades but they are not popular as they were at their height in the 2000's.


Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson they were once big during their time as pop stars during their time on American Idol before they became talk show hosts.

 

[radiofan2023]

Who knows where Taylor Swift is going in 30 years. However some of us wished some of the stars we liked 20 years ago would have the same popularity as Taylor Swift. For example I was a fan of Smashmouth 20 years ago and their former lead singer Steve Harwell has died. Yes I wished the band would go on for three decades but they are not popular as they were at their height in the 2000's.

If her popularity ever wanes or she decides not to perform any longer, she could still write hit songs for other people. Longevity can be about more than just performing.

 

[landtuna]

"Abraham, Martin and John," sung by Dion DeMucci (of the Belmonts) and released in 1968, after the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. One of the writers of that song was Richard Holler, the very definition of a versatile songwriter -- a couple of years earlier, he had co-written another chart-topper, "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron"!

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Don CT]

Who knows where Taylor Swift is going in 30 years. However some of us wished some of the stars we liked 20 years ago would have the same popularity as Taylor Swift. For example I was a fan of Smashmouth 20 years ago and their former lead singer Steve Harwell has died. Yes I wished the band would go on for three decades but they are not popular as they were at their height in the 2000's.


Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson they were once big during their time as pop stars during their time on American Idol before they became talk show hosts.

Carrie Underwood has more staying power for Idol contestants.

 

[davideduardo]

But she's already got a leg up on the Fab Four in terms of global popularity. We know now that millions upon millions of South Americans are fans of hers, an audience that, as David has told us, never cared much about the Beatles.

The Beatles were popular on Top 40 stations (in Latin America, most played both English and Spanish songs... some also played Italian and french hits too! But, indeed, they were not the source of fanaticism that Taylor Swift or the Rolling Stones or some of the big 80's and 90's rock groups that sang in English garnered.

With the global marketing of her music and its much more rhythmic -- hence, universal -- nature, I wouldn't be surprised to find that her popularity in continental Europe is greater than the Beatles' was, as well. Do the billions of Asians and Africans know who she is? Not sure, but again, I wouldn't be surprised if she also were bigger there than the Beatles were.

Part of that is the immediacy of communications. If I have a station in Ougadougu in 2023, I can have the new Taylor Swift song within seconds of its release. Back in the 60's, it would take weeks or even months to get a new song as it had to be obtained by someone in the US or Europe, then packed with a customs form and mailed. Upon arriving in the 1960's in Upper Volta, it would go through customs, pay a fee and then be released. And to start this process, the station had to have a representative in a major record producing nation to get the songs to begin with... and maybe they send a batch every month or so!

In Ecuador in the 60's my own Top 40 station had a rep in the US who sent the latest adds to WIXY in Cleveland each week. So a song took a week or two to enter the chart, the chart took a week to be printed and sent to dealers and one-stops, a week in the mail, a few days in customs and then we listened and added some of them in the next music meeting. So, about a month.

I had reps in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Argentina. I paid each one to do a shipment of new charting songs every 4 to 6 weeks. Overall, spent about $600 a month to have records sent in. There was no pop music produced locally, so all that we played was imported by us.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Well we can go down the list on which pop stars has been popular in multiple decades.

Diana Ross Sings ‘Happy Birthday’ To Beyonce In Surprise Concert Appearance: Watch

The Motown icon led the crowd in wishing Queen B a happy birthday during a special appearance at the ‘Renaissance’ tour stop in Los Angeles.

hollywoodlife.com

https://parade.com/news/diana-ross-surprises-beyonce-soulful-rendition-happy-birthday-concert-video

In fact we have another comparison here where Beyonce gets compared to Diana Ross in terms of being popular over multiple decades. We are saying the same stuff about comparing Madonna to Taylor Swift as seen here.

 

[tall_guy1]

Probably. The Superstars of the 80s (Michael Jackson, for instance) still have a considerable following and presence on classic hits.

 

[Kelly A]

Here's a thought. Why doesn't some TV network schedule a LIVE Taylor Swift concert in the exact same time slot as the Super Bowl (6-9pm Eastern Time). See which one gets higher ratings. If she can win that, then give her the Crown...

First of all; no TV network would be able to afford what TS would want to do such a thing. Second, TS wouldn't go for it because she doesn't need to do anything like that. She has made more money than the entire NFL has made in the past five years. Third, why would you think that Ms. Swift would give a rat's a$$ about convincing someone on an obscure radio board that she's a big deal?

 

[davideduardo]

First of all; no TV network would be able to afford what TS would want to do such a thing. Second, TS wouldn't go for it because she doesn't need to do anything like that. She has made more money than the entire NFL has made in the past five years. Third, why would you think that Ms. Swift would give a rat's a$$ about convincing someone on an obscure radio board that she's a big deal?

tbolt has won the Misanthrope of the Year award so many times I think they may retire it.

 

[pumpin73]

Yet the fact that she does a show that is more than, for example, The Beatles standing in front of microphones and just singing without any real action or excitement is precisely why se continues to gain in popularity. She is attractive, a role model, a decent dancer, a very good singer and composer and very, very attached to her fans.

As to the songs being "self obsessed" they are, in fact, snapshots of emotional experiences and feelings that all people go through and can identify with.

And going all the way back to the country songs, they are good!

Taylor Swift is cute and a great humanitarian. But she really cannot dance, nor sing. I have heard her "sing" live" and it wasn't great. The only reason why she is popular is because she knows how to promote herself. Great promotion is always the key to success.

 

[Cordelia Chase]

a great humanitarian.

The only reason why she is popular is because she knows how to promote herself.

Although I realize she wasn't an entertainer, I once heard someone say something similar about Princess Diana...

 

[CTListener]

Taylor Swift is cute and a great humanitarian. But she really cannot dance, nor sing. I have heard her "sing" live" and it wasn't great.

I've seen recorded concert performances on YouTube in which she sings quite well and others in which she doesn't. I understand that the vilified Auto-Tune (which, in some people's eyes, makes any artist that uses it the lowest of the low) can be inserted into the audio chain of live shows as well as in the studio, so it could be she used it in some but not in others. The same could be true of ANY singer, for that matter. Of course, it could also be true that she never uses it, and just has good and bad days with her pitch.

Of course, no one in her camp, or anywhere in the music industry, is going to reveal the truth just for the very reason I wrote earlier -- because a significant number of fans will become ex-fans in a hurry, feeling (mistakenly) that's anyone who uses Auto-Tune anywhere is as fraudulent as Milli Vanilli. (Who, of course, were lip-syncing poseurs and not actual singers.)

 

[pumpin73]

I've seen recorded concert performances on YouTube in which she sings quite well and others in which she doesn't. I understand that the vilified Auto-Tune (which, in some people's eyes, makes any artist that uses it the lowest of the low) can be inserted into the audio chain of live shows as well as in the studio, so it could be she used it in some but not in others. The same could be true of ANY singer, for that matter. Of course, it could also be true that she never uses it, and just has good and bad days with her pitch.

Of course, no one in her camp, or anywhere in the music industry, is going to reveal the truth just for the very reason I wrote earlier -- because a significant number of fans will become ex-fans in a hurry, feeling (mistakenly) that's anyone who uses Auto-Tune anywhere is as fraudulent as Milli Vanilli. (Who, of course, were lip-syncing poseurs and not actual singers.)

Real singers don't need auto-tune to make themselves sound better. Those who can sing WITHOUT music and a sound board behind them have TRUE talent!!!

 

[TheBigA]

Real singers don't need auto-tune to make themselves sound better. Those who can sing WITHOUT music and a sound board behind them have TRUE talent!!!

The talent is in the CONNECTION with the audience, and TS has that. Connecting isn't marketing, and you can't fake or simulate or buy a connection. It just happens. You can't talk them out of it either.

 

[davideduardo]

Real singers don't need auto-tune to make themselves sound better. Those who can sing WITHOUT music and a sound board behind them have TRUE talent!!!

There are plenty of very talented people who are not popular. Two different things; many of those that don't have "what it takes" to be popular are enormously successful doing jingles, music for training films, etc. Just look at Steve Karmen, for example.

 

[tbolt909]

There are plenty of very talented people who are not popular. Two different things

Milli Vanilli were mentioned earlier in this thread. They were extremely "popular" at one time. The Grammy committee was even fooled. Their Grammy was rescinded when it was discovered they didn't sing on the record. You're correct that Talent & Popularity are unrelated.

I would say in the case of Taylor Swift her Popularity far exceeds her Talent. She obviously has some skill, but I don't hear anything spectacular in her records. Songs that become "Hits" often aren't very good. The cringe worthy "Judy In Disguise" was a #1 hit in 1968. The general public often likes rubbish...

 

[CTListener]

OK, experts. Here's the "live" performance by TS in which she sings very well. It was part of the 2010 tribute to Brooks and Dunn, televised on CBS. The band is playing live, and TS looks to be doing the same. But is this her natural performing standard, or is there a "sweetener" in the audio chain? How can one detect it without direct knowledge. I've seen and heard videos of here in which she doesn't sound half as good as she does here.

 

[tbolt909]

Lip Syncing on television is nothing new. "Auto Tune" is another sleight of hand trick to improve vocals. Any singer can have good and bad days. Concert goers may have different opinions on "Good or Bad" performances depending on how much alcohol they consumed...

 

[radiofan2023]

Billy Joel had AutoTune on when he did the National Anthem for the Super Bowl in 2007, but a lot of people still like his music.

Also, to Big A's point about connecting with her audience, Taylor Swift is the only artist I know of who wrote a song about a fan's son battling cancer: